Part Four – Micah

 

Micah held Haven close listening to the soft little whimpers his friend gave off as he slept. He’d awakened briefly while Nick had been out and Micah told him how they’d found him in the snow. Micah made him drink some warm tea and then held him as he cried weak tears and fell into an exhausted sleep.

The urge to protect his best friend rose within Micah. He’d never in his life known someone who came from the kind of background Haven had. He’d never known someone who had lost everyone he’d ever loved. He’d never known someone who had been abused and violated. Micah didn’t understand how Haven had any hope left, but until tonight, Haven had had more hope inside him than anyone Micah knew.

But when Haven had awakened briefly, Micah plainly saw the despair in his friend’s beautiful eyes. His hope had finally been extinguished and Micah couldn’t bear it. No one as sweet as Haven deserved to have his dreams stripped from him in such a manner. Micah hadn’t ever had cause to hate someone, but he came very close to hating Kellen when he looked at the unhappiness and pain etched on Haven’s pale face.

“This isn’t how I planned for us to spend Christmas Eve.”

Nick’s wry tone caused Micah to lift his head. Their gazes met. Nick stood in the bathroom doorway, toweling his damp head. He wore sweats and nothing else. His raw masculinity stirred Micah as it always did, but he sternly banked his libido. It wouldn’t do to spring wood while he held his best friend in his arms, trying to warm him.

“I know, sir. I’m sorry.” Micah gazed down at Haven’s blond streaked head. “He needs us.”

“I know.” Nick sighed as he stepped closer to the king sized bed. “And there’s no need to apologize, sweetness. None of this is your fault.”

Nick sat on Micah’s side of the bed, his hand coming to rest on his lover’s thigh. Micah could feel the warmth of his palm right through the down comforter. He shifted Haven’s body in his arms, letting his friend rest more along his side than on top of him.

“Can we keep him, sir? After this I don’t think I could bear for something to happen to him.” Micah turned pleading eyes on his master.

Another sigh escaped Nick. “Yes. I couldn’t stand that either, especially after what my brother did to him. It’s not like we need a service sub, but if we collar him as such, at least he would be safe from anyone who would hurt him.”

Micah stroked his hand over Haven’s silky hair. “Do you think one day he’ll find someone else?”

“I wish I could say yes, but with his track record the odds aren’t good.” Nick shrugged. “But you never know. Until tonight, Haven always believed in miracles and happy endings, right?”

“Yes.” Micah smiled at his master.

Nick returned his smile. “Maybe a miracle will happen. It’s Christmas Eve and by some miracle we found him before he died of exposure. We’ll keep him and hopefully his heart will mend some day. If that happens, maybe he’ll find a Dom worthy of his submission.”

Micah hugged his friend closer, feeling how cool his skin still remained. “I thought Kellen was that man.” His lips curled into a pout and he glanced up at his master through his lashes.

“I did too. It hurts me more than I can say that my brother did this.” Nick shook his head. “I thought Haven was perfect for Kellen.”

Micah looked around the room. Golden light encircled the big bed and the rest of the house lay in darkness except for a glow that spilled into the hallway from the Christmas tree lights in the living room and the glow of the lights that decorated the eaves all around the house, seeping into each room from around the closed shutters and blinds. The howling wind had calmed and the snow seemed to have stopped falling.

It didn’t seem possible that such a cozy, serene scene held no magic. But appearances were deceptive. Kellen had seemed perfect for Haven and Micah had been sure that introducing them had been the right thing to do. He’d never been so spectacularly wrong in his entire life.

A door slammed and Micah jumped. Nick’s brows jammed together and he started to rise when a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway.

“Nick, you have to help me!”

Kellen’s hair fell in disarray over his forehead. Micah had never seen his brother-in-law out of control before. Even during a scene at the club, Kellen had an iron control that every other Dom envied. The Kellen standing in the doorway of Micah and Nick’s bedroom was a Kellen Micah didn’t recognize.

For a moment, the half crazed man stood motionless. Then the scene before him seemed to register in his brain. Nick, half dressed, sitting on the side of the bed. Micah and Haven mostly naked and wrapped in the down comforter. And Micah holding Haven against his body.

A shimmer of anger flickered in Kellen’s eyes and then, confusion came to the fore. “Haven?” he said, taking a step forward. “He’s alive?”

“He’s suffering from exposure,” Micah told Kellen softly. “He needs body heat to warm him. They wouldn’t keep him at the hospital because they were busy with injuries and casualties from a big pile up on the interstate. They said there was nothing they could do for him that we couldn’t do ourselves.”

Kellen turned accusatory eyes on his brother. “There’s nothing they could do for him?” His jaw tightened.

Micah watched his master roll his shoulders. “You didn’t deserve the truth,” Nick told Kellen boldly.

“He’s mine!”

The cry held anguish and Micah felt a stab of malicious satisfaction that Haven’s master had been hurt.

“Not any longer. You released him.” Nick stood and pointed to the collar in Kellen’s hand.

“He’s ours now. You won’t get the chance to hurt him again.” Micah tilted his chin in the air and tried to look haughty, but it was difficult with his friend in his arms.

Kellen ran a trembling hand through his already disordered hair. “I don’t want to hurt him. I want to fix everything.”

Nick snorted, his expression filled with disbelief. “Forgive me if I don’t fucking believe you.”

“It’s true.” Kellen took two steps into the room. “I thought about what you said, Nick. I thought about how I acted and how out of control I’ve been since Cristophe died. I never gave Haven the chance he deserved.”

Micah had never stood up to a Dom in his life. However, even a submissive sometimes had to make a stand and Micah figured his friend Haven was worth making a stand for. He thrust his chin out and glared at Kellen.

“No, you didn’t. And we’re not giving you the chance to hurt him again. You can just take that collar and go home.”

Micah snuck a peek at Nick. He wondered what his dominant thought of him speaking to another dominant in such a way. A little smile curled Nick’s lips and his eyes glinted his approval. Micah hugged Haven tighter and returned to glaring at Kellen.

“You don’t understand, Micah. Haven belongs with me. I have to show him how wrong I was. I need to apologize to him for how I treated him,” Kellen said in a voice that shook with emotion.

“You can apologize, but you can’t have him. I won’t let you hurt him again.” Micah trembled a little. He’d never been so bold with a dominant in his life. He’d never refused to do what a Dom requested of him. But there had been a moment out in the snow that night when Micah had brushed away a pile of snow to reveal Haven’s face. The moment had been fraught with fear and Micah had vowed to protect Haven himself if only the other submissive were alive. It was Micah’s Christmas vow and he wasn’t about to break it.

Kellen stepped closer, his gaze filled with longing and an emotion Micah wasn’t sure he wanted to see.

“I won’t hurt him again. I only want the chance to love him properly.”

The words hit Micah hard in the chest. He ached for his best friend.

Before Micah could find words to hold Kellen off, a hoarse, weak voice rose from the depths of the down comforter.

“You disowned me and took my collar.”

Kellen rushed to the bed. He stood gazing down at Haven as if the man was the most wonderful Christmas present in the world…and he wasn’t allowed to have it.

“I was a fucking bastard. I admit it. But I’ve changed. I promise you, Haven. I’ve changed!”

The dominant’s words held a begging note that Micah had a hard time resolving as having come from someone who wasn’t a submissive. Micah looked over at Nick who nodded. He looked down at Haven who had begun to get a little color in his cheeks. Slowly, he eased away from Haven and slipped from the bed. Nick held out his robe and he put it on, belting it tightly. He caught Haven’s gaze and held it firmly.

“If you don’t want to speak to him, you don’t have to. If you want him to leave, we’ll make sure he does,” Micah told his best friend. “This isn’t about him any longer. This is all about you and what you want. He doesn’t have any control over you anymore. As far as Nick and I are concerned, Kellen can go to hell. He burned his bridges with us tonight. You’re the only one who matters, Haven.”

Micah took hold of his master’s hand and squeezed it. Then Nick led Micah from the bedroom. In the living room, Micah found himself trembling violently and Nick wrapped his arms around him.

“Are you praying this works, sir?” he asked his master.

Nick sighed. “Yes,” he admitted.

Micah closed his eyes and leaned against Nick’s hard chest. “Me too.”